


Means of Escape

by jeien



Category: Sound Horizon
Genre: Ballroom antics, Crossdressing, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 14:44:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4104712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeien/pseuds/jeien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tettere's advisers throw a ball to celebrate his birthday. He's none too thrilled. Thankfully, his castle staff and his strange guest, Elefseus, seem to have a plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Means of Escape

**Author's Note:**

> Gift fic for [Kizu](http://aloha-baltan.tumblr.com/)'s birthday. Happy birthday, darling! 
> 
> Unbeta'd.

Tettere heard the door to his chambers click open as he laid down on the chaise sofa, legs dangling off the armrest. If it had been any other moment other than that humid summer evening after the whirlwind of aristocratic nonsense had finally died down, he might have had the energy to lift his head and see who came in. However, since he didn’t hear a knock or a servant asking permission to come inside, the prince could probably guess who it was.

Elef came in with a tray and set it down by the table a small ways away from his bed. He had stumbled into Tettere’s kingdom from goodness-knows-where only a few months ago—but ever since Tettere had mildly coerced him to impose upon his bountiful hospitality, Elef had been an elusive staple around the castle. He was rather solitary by nature (although Tettere just thinks it’s because Elef’s extremely shy) so people would rarely see him wandering around the halls. However, the foreigner does sometimes offer to help the servants with their menial tasks like washing dishes, feeding the horses, or chopping wood. When Tettere confronted his guest about his strange habits, Elef shrugged the question off and refused to answer any further.

Even now, Elef took on the role of a servant—quietly pouring him tea before adding one spoonful of sugar and a drizzle of honey to his tastes. Tettere couldn’t help but smile and say, “This is certainly unlike you.”

“I figured you could use it considering today’s events,” Elef replied. “Honestly, your bureaucrats were loud enough that I could hear them from the stables.”

He chuckled and pushed himself to sit up, patting the now-free spot next to him for Elef to sit in. Elef wordlessly fell back into the seat with a dull thud.

“Why don’t you pour yourself a cup?” Tettere asked.

“I can do without.” He saw Elef lean against the armrest out of the corner of his eye, propping his chin up with his knuckles. They shared a comfortable silence—Elef wasn’t the type to talk much unless he felt it appropriate—before his guest said, “So I heard they’re throwing you a ball to celebrate your birthday.”

Tettere sighed, “It’s just another reason for them to drink the night away and delude themselves into thinking they can find a suitable woman for me. You already know my stance on that.”

“If it ain’t dead, it ain’t allowed in bed,” Elef said. It took the prince all his strength not to choke on his tea in surprise. The action didn’t go unnoticed. “Yeah, you can be impressed with one of your pages for that one.”

“Well, it’s true in a very crude sense.” And he had to admit, it was quite charming. Maybe it’s because of the rhyme. “Of course, nobility will be nobility and you know they want nothing more than to throw themselves at my feet in an attempt to get into my loins. Honestly, if I could avoid the ball entirely, I would.”

“You can’t hire a girl to be your pretend date?”

“Not without them expecting something in return. Like reciprocated romantic feelings.”

“Ah.”

Tettere smiled. “Don’t worry, Elef. As a prince, you can say I’m an expert in putting up with these things.”

“Who said I was worried?” With that, Elef rose from his seat and left the room, muttering a quiet _Good night_ before going through the doorway.

The castle was thrown into a state of orderly chaos in preparation for the ball. Tettere hadn’t seen hide or hair of Elef since their small exchange—he was probably busy helping out the castle staff as much as he could. It was a shame to not have his company around to distract him from being nagged at by his advisers and the other bureaucrats. Instead, he tried to make his paperwork last as long as he possibly could throughout the next week when he wasn’t being pulled aside by the seamstress to take his measurements for yet another suit.

By the time he woke up on his actual birthday, he already wanted the day to end. The maids flocked in, giving him their greetings, and went through the motions of the day: preparing his bath, laying out his clothes, serving breakfast, letting him go for his office for a few hours, serving lunch, and letting him go back to the office one last time before dragging him to his chambers to dress for the ball.

His attire had too many pieces and if it hadn’t been for the three maids helping him dress, Tettere probably would have been stuck trying to put it on. While it did look impressive in the end, it just seemed a little over-the-top.

“You look dashing, Your Highness,” one of the maids complimented.

Tettere pulled at his collar, trying to loosen its grip from his neck. “Thank you.”

They all seemed to note his discomfort. Another maid soon said, “Not to worry, Your Highness! The staff has a plan to rescue you!”

That caught him off guard. He could only stare at them with a blank expression as he croaked out a meager, “Huh?”

The third maid looked back before leaning in and whispering, “We know you were none too pleased about this ball, so we all came up with a plan to make this experience less painful. Just hang in there, Your Highness!”

The head maid came in soon afterwards to make sure the other three had not been slacking off. She also complimented Tettere’s handsome form before shooing the girls out of the room. They all wished him luck and a very happy birthday. Tettere couldn’t help but smile—he knew that his staff cared for him despite his oddities. He wondered what kind of plan they came up with.

When the dreaded time finally came, Tettere nearly had to shield his eyes from the light that reflected the new crystals on the chandelier. They really hadn’t been kidding when his advisers said they wanted to make this “special.” Even Marchen’s well didn’t seem so bad compared to the ballroom that was currently trying to blind him. Still, he managed a charming smile that made the ladies swoon and the gentlemen puff up their chests to try and win his favor.

As he descended from the main steps onto the ballroom floor, he was swarmed by ladies asking for a dance. Tettere was used to the pungent fog of clashing perfumes, but it seemed more potent that night to the point of being dizzying. So, doing what he does best, he plays coy to excuse himself.

“My dears, would you really have me make the difficult choice of picking my first dance between such brilliant gems?” He gazed at them with half-lidded eyes and turned the corners of his mouth slightly upwards in a seductive smile. “I’m hurt that you would place such a burden on me. Any man would feel overwhelmed with such a decision!”

The ladies cooed at his words and a servant approached their group, offering refreshments. Tettere went to address him when his eyes caught a peculiar sight. Is that—?

Elef, clad in a lavender gown with make up on his face and his hair done up in a way that hid his magenta streaks, locked eyes with him. His lips pursed together in a thin line, quickly telling Tettere to get over there before someone else gets the wrong idea and tries to dance with him.

“Oh, I would hate to leave you all so soon, but I must have a word with an acquaintance of mine,” Tettere apologized, slowly starting to step away from the flock of ladies. “Do find it in your hearts to forgive me, my dears.”

He tried to pace his steps—quick enough to reach Elef, but not so quick as to seem desperate. Elef’s expression softened as Tettere strode to his side. As courtesy called it, Tettere bowed; Elef managed a small curtsy in response. He tried hard not to laugh, but the smile still broke through his restraints as he offered a hand towards his guest.

“Might I have a dance?”

Elef nodded quietly before placing his hand in Tettere’s while the prince led him onto the dance floor. The music changed to a slow waltz and the other attendees paired up to join in.

Tettere chuckled and asked, “Is this the rescue plan?”

“Yeah,” Elef replied quietly, trying not to draw attention to his masculine voice. “You owe me for this.”

“I am in your debt, my darling,” Tettere agreed, ignoring his friend’s pointed glare. “What? We have to make this at least mildly convincing. After all, you’ll be accompanying me the entire evening. That _is_ part of the plan, right?”

Elef opened his mouth to retort, but closed it into an almost-pout because Tettere was right. “It wasn’t my idea.”

“I had a feeling.” They could hear the whispers of the attendees trying to figure out who this mystery woman dancing with the prince was. “I’m more surprised at the fact that no one’s recognizing you.”

“The only ones who know me are the people serving and they’re in on it,” Elef explained. “Not even your own _retainers_ have seen me often enough to know me by face. It pays to not to be seen that often.”

“You’re too good.”

The two of them danced almost the entire night away, only stopping to rest their heads from the constant circling around. When some of the nobles asked who Elef was, Tettere quickly replied that it was his dear friend Elia who came to visit from a far-away nation after she had recovered from a longtime illness. Elef never missed a beat and smiled brightly at them, mustering a whispery, high-pitched _Hello_ in greeting as he curtsied. Tettere was almost impressed as Elef apologized, saying _My voice still hasn’t returned to me at full strength; this is as much as I am able to do_. The excuse was accepted well enough by their audience.

They stuck close together until the ball ended with no one questioning their relationship since _The prince has to tend to his friend since she came all this way after finally overcoming her near-fatal disease_. Tettere never mentioned any specifics, but he was thankful that the attendees did the job for him. He escorted Elef to a carriage that he assumed would go in hide out in a secret place where Elef could change back into his normal clothes.

“Until then, my lovely Elia,” he said, kissing the back of Elef’s hand as the coup de grace of their performance. The carriage rode off soon after.

Tettere walked back to the castle to the ecstatic voices of his advisers, who were more than pleased to see their prince sincerely engaging in activities other than his strange fetishes. Thinking him to have been exhausted from the ball, they left him to return to his chambers after wishing him a happy birthday. He dragged his feet down the hall, pulling his collar loose. By the time he entered his chambers and closed the door, Elef was already waiting for him with a cup of tea.

“How did you—?” Tettere stopped himself. “Nevermind. I should have known you would be rather quick.”

Elef looked just as he had always looked, with his plain tunic and his hair in messy waves. It was almost as if ‘Elia’ had been a dream. “Here, drink up.”

The prince took the cup and sat down at the chaise, like the week before. “Remind me to thank everyone for their little rescue plan.”

Tettere heard a soft grunt coming from Elef before he sat down beside him, holding his own cup of tea. “Firstly, though, let me thank _you_ for putting up with all of it.”

“Like I said, you owe me,” Elef mumbled, head tilted down towards his cup. Tettere smiled.

“You’re blushing you know.”

“Am not.”

Another comfortable silence spread between them as they sipped on their drinks. Tettere took the time to also take off the outer layers of his suit. After a while, Elef placed the cup back onto the tray and rose to leave for the night. But before he passed through the doorway, Elef’s cheeks tinged a light pink as he quietly said:

“Happy birthday.”


End file.
